Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrat leaders Willie Rennie and Kirsty Williams have reacted to this morning’s Queen’s Speech.

Willie Rennie was unimpressed by the government’s legislative programme. He accused the Conservatives of threatening the economy and punishing the poor.

The UK Government’s programme is unbridled conservatism in action.

The Conservative agenda will undermine our rights, threaten our recovery and punish the poor and vulnerable.

Today’s Queen’s speech demonstrates the need for a liberal voice at the heart of British politics.

The Tories are continuing their campaign of fear with plans for a Snooper’s Charter, threats to our human rights and an attack on benefits.

Policies such as increasing the tax threshold and a focus on childcare and improving mental health services simply wouldn’t be on the agenda without the Liberal Democrats.

It shows why you need the Liberal Democrats to stand up for civil liberties. We will continue to fight for a stronger economy and a fairer society, which creates opportunity for all.

He had specific comments to make on the proposals for Scotland:

The SNP are playing their usual schemes in redefining their mandate. During the election the Smith Commission was barely mentioned. Now they say that a vote for the SNP was a vote for their version of more powers.

This comes despite a democratic referendum barely months before where the majority of Scots voted for a stronger Scotland in the UK.

The five party Smith Commission was undertaken in good faith. I urge the UK Government to ignore the pleas from the SNP to create an unstable form of devolution which could tip Scotland into independence.

Liberal Democrats will be arguing for the Smith Agreement to be delivered in full and for the SNP to kick off its own process of devolving more powers to local communities. That is the stable settlement Scotland needs. It would mean the Scottish Government can move its focus towards creating opportunity for all.

Kirsty Williams’ remarks concentrated on human rights:

Liberal Democrats blocked Tory plans to weaken our human rights obligations in Government and we will continue to fight to stop them in opposition.

It would appear that David Cameron is waking up to the fact that this ridiculous policy is easier said than done.  Not only will he struggle to cobble together a majority of votes to support it, but he clearly hasn’t thought through the ramifications it will have on the devolution settlement.

Europe’s human rights laws were designed by British lawyers to reflect British values of justice, tolerance and decency.  The Tories now want to throw all that good work away – we won’t let them.

Ceredigion MP Mark Williams said that our basic rights were hanging in the balance:

Today was an unveiling of the old nasty Tory party; devoid of fairness and intent on curbing our freedoms.

The human rights we hold dear, our right to privacy in an online age and our future as an outward-looking country are all hanging in the balance again because of this Tory Queen’s Speech.

And on the Wales Bill:

A new Wales Bill is a positive step for devolution in Wales, but it’s disappointing that few details were revealed.  The Tories must deliver in full on the St David’s Day agreement – no ifs, not buts.

I urge the Government not to dither on the new Wales Bill.  George Osborne promised it would be delivered within a hundred days and already that appears to be a broken promise.  The Liberal Democrats ensured devolution moved faster than it had done in any time over the previous decade – the new UK Tory Government can’t allow that momentum to be lost.